Soap Hub Performer of the Week for GH: Cynthia Watros

Cynthia Watros recently had a birthday but it’s her fans who received the gift. As Nina Reeves, the Daytime Emmy-winning actress poured her heart out to Jax after he found out that Sonny’s alive and is living in Nixon Falls under the handle of Mike. For her performance as a desperate woman in love, Soap Hub bestows Performer of the Week honors for GH on Watros.

Cynthia Watros — Soap Hub Performer Of The Week For GH

Nina’s been hiding the fact that Sonny’s actually alive for months. After several near-misses, the jig was blown by Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) secret sauce. Jax (Ingo Rademacher) figured out that Sonny just might be alive after his daughter Joss (Eden McCoy) shared some marinara sauce with her dad that tasted just like Sonny’s recipe. The desperate look that Jax saw in Nina’s eyes outside the Tan-O fueled his suspicions and then, they were confirmed once Jax laid eyes upon Sonny inside.

Watros’ eyes told the next part of the story as she desperately begged Jax with her expressive pupils to not reveal to “Mike” who he really is. Once the two were alone, Jax understandably expressed his incredulousness that Nina would knowingly keep Sonny from his loved ones who were grieving his loss.

And here’s where Watros really shines – Nina tearfully explained why she initially kept Sonny’s existence a secret and how Carly (Laura Wright) blasted her over the phone when she did try to let her know that her “late” husband was alive. Nina didn’t intentionally set out to hurt anyone. The circumstances overwhelmed her and she came to realize that maybe there was a reason that Sonny got amnesia and that she found him. Perhaps, fate has thrown them together for a reason.

Just as Sonny found a new family with Phyllis Caulfield (Joyce Guy) and the late Lenny (Andre Rollins), so, too, has Nina. She doesn’t want to let that go and if that means letting Sonny continue to live as Mike, then so be it. Understandably, Jax thinks it’s wrong to keep Sonny from his family – especially since Sonny’s return to Port Charles and the mob scene could remove Joss from the radar of the Five Families.

“Mike isn’t made up and he’s nothing like Sonny,” Nina implored to Jax, who was less than willing to believe her words. “Mike…is free from the violence that has haunted Sonny his entire life and Mike isn’t grieving a son [Morgan] that was killed. He’s not focused on revenge, power, and greed. Mike can be the good man that he is inside that he always has been.”

Jax knows how to win in the boardroom and he employed some of those brutal corporate tactics when he pointed out to Nina how hurt she was when she found out that Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) lied to her about Sasha (Sofia Mattsson) being her daughter.

Nina’s eyes welled up both because of that painful reminder from her past and also because she knew she wasn’t reaching Jax with her arguments. Ultimately, what Nina is doing isn’t right — but Watros plays the heart out of Nina’s emotional position so passionately that we can’t help not only see her side of things but side with her, too. How can doing something wrong also be the right thing? It’s because Nina’s coming from a place of loving Mike and wanting what’s best for him. Later, Nina realized that Jax wasn’t being a dog with a bone over this because of either her or Sonny. She accused of him thinking only about Carly.

Jax pulled out the big guns when he said that Avery (Ava and Grace Scarola) and Donna deserve to know their dad and Sonny deserves to know them and also his grandson Wiley (Erik and Theo Olson). He succeeded in getting through to Nina who agreed that Sonny should be told the truth — but with one caveat. Nina asked if she could be the one who tells Mike the truth about his origins. Jax agreed.

Next, Nina learned from Phyllis that Mike was on his way back to the Tan-O. She heard someone come through the door and prepared to tell him everything — only to find in his place a menacing Peter August (Wes Ramsey). Nina’s face froze with terror as General Hospital viewers were left to wonder if she’ll be able to make good on her word to Jax to tell Mike the truth. Stay tuned.

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.